Preface Hendrickson Christian Classics Edition

Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection (1614-1691)

There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful, than that of a continual conversation with God: those only can comprehend it who practice and experience it; yet I do not advise you to do it from that motive; it is not pleasure which we ought to seek in this exercise; but let us do it from a principle of love, and because God would have us.

—Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection (“Fifth Letter”)

These compelling words were written by a cloistered seventeenth-century brother whose only ambition was to

ix Brother Lawrence remain always in the presence of God. His early life was caught up in the political struggles of the day, but his later life was lived in quiet obscurity. Early in the seventeenth century, all of Europe was roiling from the impact of the Protestant Reformation and the response of the Catholic Counter-Reformation. Europe was realigning itself along religious lines: some states had embraced Protestantism; others remained Roman Catholic, loyal to the pope. The conflicts seemed to be about religion, but behind that fac¸ade simmered matters of politics, finance, and ultimately, power. The Thirty Years War (1614−1648) began in Germany as a religious civil war between Roman Catholics and Protes- tants but soon spread, becoming a brutal struggle for the balance of power in Europe. When it looked as though the Catholic forces of the Holy Roman Empire would win, the Danes, the Swedes, and finally the French intervened. When it was over, the Holy Roman Empire was permanently curtailed as a political force. Germany lay in ruins, half its population killed, its power diluted among local rulers. France emerged dominant over a devastated Europe. As the opening salvos of the war were being fired in Germany, Nicholas Herman was born in the Lorraine region of France. Monastery records record his birth date as 1614, but some calculate his birth as early as 1608. According to an early biographer, his parents were godly people, providing him with a good home. At the age of eighteen, Nicholas had a profound en- counter with God, whose grandeur and presence thereafter shaped his life. Yet, rather than pursuing a religious voca-

x The Practice of the Presence of God tion, Nicholas joined the French army. His military career was short but eventful: he was captured by the “German” troops, accused of espionage, and sentenced to hang. After somehow establishing his innocence, he was released to rejoin his unit, only to be wounded in the leg by Swedish troops during the siege of Rambervillers in 1635. His military career over, Nicholas returned to his parents’ home, uncer- tain of his future. The Thirty Years War was particularly brutal. It is un- clear if Nicholas witnessed or participated in any of the looting or unwarranted violence. His writing mentions some regrets for the actions of his youth, but not for war experi- ences specifically. It is unlikely that anyone who lived through that war escaped the cruelty; possibly Nicholas felt that enumerating personal details was unnecessary, since everyone had suffered. After his military service, Nicholas tried other careers. He attempted to live as a hermit, but found he needed more structure. He served as a footman or valet to the treasurer of the king of France, but described himself in this role as a “great awkward fellow who broke everything.” After eliminating these career options, he decided to follow the advice—and path—of an uncle. In 1640 he entered a Car- melite monastery in Paris as a lay brother. In a short time, he received the brown habit and took the religious name Lawrence of the Resurrection. All men who entered religious communities took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Some intended to seek ordination to become priests. Others, called lay brothers, remained laymen, never seeking ordination. In the older

xi Brother Lawrence orders, such as the Carmelites, lay brothers served in auxil- iary duties, assisting priests. Often they were less educated yet pious men who performed the menial tasks of the com- munity. These brothers would not participate in the regular services and prayers but had their own simple form of prayer. Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection was such a lay brother. For his first two years, he attended a few spiritual- life classes and special training for his futures duties. Then in 1642, he took his vows. His vocation being one of “prayer and manual work,” Lawrence became the community’s cook, a job he held for about fifteen years, until his physical infirmities forced a change to the sandal shop, where he could work while seated. He suffered from sciatic gout, possibly the result of his battlefield injury, and he walked with a distinct limp. For his first ten years as a Carmelite, he suffered a dark depression, exacerbated by feelings of spiritual inadequacy, anxieties, fears, and unhappiness in his work. After reaching the conclusion that he would never find the peace he sought, suddenly “I found myself changed all at once; and my soul, which till that time was in trouble, felt a profound inward peace, as if she were in her center and place of rest.” This proved the turning point for Brother Lawrence, who would return again and again to this center, to the presence of God. No longer frustrated by his work, he found himself in the presence of God while peeling potatoes as well as when he was kneeling at prayer. Lawrence’s reputation for humble acumen extended be- yond the walls of the monastery, to people of low station and high. Some made pilgrimages to his Paris monastery to

xii The Practice of the Presence of God converse with him. In 1666, Lawrence had his first of several interviews with Abbe´ Joseph de Beaufort who came to learn the “secrets” of his spirituality. Eventually De Beaufort would combine these conversations with some of Lawrence’s letters and publish a book in 1692, after Lawrence’s death. Toward the end of his life, Lawrence’s physical ailments increased as his sciatic gout became an ulcerated wound in his leg. Suffering from illness several times in the last years of his life, he looked forward to seeing God. Just days before he died, he wrote, “I hope for the merciful grace of seeing him in a few days.” Brother Lawrence died on February 12, 1691, at age seventy-seven. At first the little book did not receive the acclaim that perhaps was its due, because it was unjustly associated with the controversial theology of the time. The Brother Law- rence volume was (and has been) barely known in France, but since 1724 there have been several English editions under the title we know today. The Practice of the Presence of God is almost embarrassin- gly brief, consisting of four remembered conversations, fif- teen letters, a series of spiritual maxims, and a biography of sorts by de Beaufort on the “Character of Brother Law- rence.” It is possible to read it through in one sitting, and it may be that the first time through should be quick, just to get a broad overview of Lawrence’s teaching. But don’t stop at one reading. Go back and meditate on his teachings, examining them one at a time, again and again, until their truth takes root. The way of Brother Lawrence is one of continual prayer, practicing the awareness of God’s presence until the awareness becomes a habit. Not unlike military

xiii Brother Lawrence or athletic training, we must practice until we do it without thinking, until it is like breathing—what we do to live.

The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clutter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquillity as if I were upon my knees at the Blessed Sacrament. —Brother Lawrence (“Fourth Conversation”)

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